City bosses ready to block any Arsenal approaches for Vieira or Arteta

According to The Sunday Mirror, the hierarchy at Manchester City are ready to block any approaches from Arsenal to Patrick Vieira or Mikel Arteta to take over as the new boss at The Emirates.

Both men have played for Arsenal, and have been mentioned as possible candidates to replace the departing Arsene Wenger, who is said to favour a former player to succeed him at the helm in North London, publicly tipping ex-captain Vieira as a possible successor.

However, City are now ready to rebuff any moves by Arsenal for two men they have earmarked for big futures under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour. Vieira, currently coaching City sister club New York FC, is regarded as the long-term successor to Pep Guardiola, whilst Arteta is regarded as an integral part of the coaching staff at The Etihad, with the club having already turned down an approach by Wales for the Spaniard to help their national team on a part-time basis.

Luis Enrique remains the favourite to take over at Arsenal, with Juventus boss Max Allegri also heavily favoured by bookmakers.

Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.